


Where The Lions Roam

by Mytay



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And They Fix It, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance is Also Important But Doesn't Think It, M/M, Mild Spoilers, Team as Family, Voltron Season Two Inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 04:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9419231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mytay/pseuds/Mytay
Summary: " ... tell me why Blue is making the moves on Keith.”Pidge stared at him, a touch incredulous. “You really haven’t figured it out?”“Pidge. I am very intelligent, but I am not a genius,” Lance said patiently. “Spell it out for me.”“Well, you just sort of answered your own question,” Pidge said, snorting. “Your Lion is making the moves on Keith — and by ‘moves’ I mean responding to your abject terror whenever Keith is in danger.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> You know what I've never done before? Written a fic in a few hours, proofread it *once* and then posted it. Voltron, the things you do to me ... 
> 
> Mild spoilers for season two. When in season two does this take place? *vague hand wave motions* Before the end? Some weird *slightly* alternate timeline? Around there.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** These characters and setting aren't mine! Just borrowing them for a bit.

 

“Keith, when I get out of here, _you are so dead._ ” Lance glared up at the sky, as if Keith could somehow see him, floating up there in the Red Lion. He then sliced through a thick bunch of jungle vines with extreme prejudice because they were in his way, and _screw everything,_ even plants, _screw it all,_ _but especially Red Paladins_.

“I wasn’t the one who didn’t listen to Pidge when she said to _wait_ — _you_ went ahead —” Keith’s voice, sounding annoyed and superior in Lance’s helmet, prompted him to hack yet another innocent plant as he searched for Pidge.

 

“Only because _you_ were so obviously going to try and blast those planetary cannons first, _you always do it first._ I wanted to blow something up first for a change.” Lance did not care how whiny that sounded. Keith perpetually ruined _all the things,_ and if Lance was having a bad time, it was usually the Red Paladin’s fault. Period.

 

“Great, good job. Not only did you _not_ blow it up, but now you and Pidge —”

 

“Pidge!” Lance said, happy to see her suddenly appear before him. She was sitting at the base of a tree, chatting with … a really big lemur?

 

“Hey Lance!” Pidge grinned up at him. “My Lion is somewhere back this way, but I found this little guy stuck in a —”

 

“Pidge is here, communing with animals,” Lance said to Keith before approaching Pidge and asking, “Where’s your helmet?”

 

“Hm? Oh, I think it’s back with the Lion? When I got hit, things went a little hazy, and I was thrown pretty far —”

 

Abruptly, Lance’s helmet was filled with swearing from Keith, who had been standing guard above the planet Lance and Pidge had crash onto, waiting for Shiro and Hunk to come back him up.

 

“Keith, what are you doing?” Lance demanded.

 

“Getting rid of those damn cannons. You guys won’t be able to leave until we —”

 

Lance hated Keith a lot. Really. The way his heart seized in his chest as Keith let out another volley of swearing, sounding like he was in _pain —_ Lance hated him for making everything narrow down to freaking out over Keith getting himself killed.

 

“Keith, no, those things are way too powerful —”

 

“I can do it, Lance, shut up.”

 

“Keith, _Keith!_ ” Lance looked up, actually able to see a massive series of explosions, and he remembered how much the shockwaves had hurt, how _loud_ the creaks and groans of his Lion had been, making him so sure he was about to be blown to smithereens, and Keith, Keith was going to …

 

Lance and Pidge were too far from their Lions, and Keith was grunting in pain again and —

 

“Lance, is that you?!” Keith was saying, sounding both shocked and annoyed.

 

Suddenly, the explosions ceased.

 

“What, what just happened?!” Lance said urgently, in no way desperate to make sure Keith was in one piece.

 

“It’s _not_ you? Your Lion — it just flew up from the planet, froze the cannons from beneath. I don’t know how long that’ll hold, but Blue's up here, with me.”

 

“ _My_ Lion is up there _with you_?!” Lance exclaimed, turning to stare at Pidge, who was looking at him with wide eyes and an alien lemur wrapped around her waist.

 

“Yeah … Uh. Blue is helping me stand guard, or something?” A long pause. “Can you get to Pidge’s Lion and get up here now? Before those cannons thaw?”

 

“Right.” Lance grit his teeth. “Sure.”

 

“Lance,” Pidge said, her eyes huge. “Lance, we’ve established that Lions can reach their Paladins across great distances if they feel they’re in terrible danger. Or in pain.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Lance said, angrier than he can ever remember being. “This is so —”

 

“And you, you weren’t in pain just now,” Pidge continued, walking towards her Lion. “But —”

 

“Look, Pidge, we don’t need to spell it out, okay?” Lance resumed his destruction of the foliage. “I can’t believe this is happening. Just, _of course._ Of freaking course.”

 

Pidge was silent for a moment, and then she began to speak, a little haltingly. “Lance, it’s okay. It’s totally … I mean, it’s weird, because you and Keith seem to be like two opposing forces, but it’s okay to have feel —”

 

“Pidge. My Lion is potentially _leaving me_ for another Paladin who  _already has a Lion._ ” Lance heard himself say the words, and a hollow feeling started growing in his chest. It wasn’t even painful — just a cool, empty acceptance. Because he wasn’t special, he wasn’t needed, and now his Lion was proving that.

 

Pidge stopped dead in her tracks. “Are you serious? Lance, there’s no way —”

 

“Look, _your_ Lion is here for you. Let’s get in there and go, shall we?” And there’s a part of him, a tiny, stupid part, that felt better knowing that Blue was up there protecting Keith. But a larger part of him just felt like it had been gut punched.

 

Pidge opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “Fine. We’ll talk about this later though!”

 

“Good, fine.” Lance knew he was going to be avoiding Pidge for the foreseeable future. He didn’t need a pity talk about how he was still a part of the team, their sharp shooter, or whatever stupid consolation prize they tried to offer him.

 

When he was finally back in Blue, once Hunk and Shiro arrived and helped them destroy the old planetary cannons, set up centuries ago by a dead civilization, Lance felt a warm surge of affection from Blue as they worked seamlessly together, like always … Maybe it had been a fluke? A weird fluke, never to be repeated. That would be great for his ego.

 

_Let’s not do that again, okay, buddy?_

He felt another wave of warmth, a soft vibration sort of like a purr, and he smiled, almost forgetting his anxiety. Almost.

******

 

“Dude, you okay?” Lance asked, watching Keith come out of the Red Lion, holding onto his left side.

 

“Yeah …” Keith said, and he was trying to hide a wince as he walked — limped — out of the hanger. Lance watched his painfully slow progress for a full minute before he sighed and marched over, grabbing Keith by the wrist.

 

“Ow!” Keith immediately tried to hide his reaction, but Lance wasn’t having it. He started pulling Keith towards the medical room, trying to be mindful of the Red Paladin's hidden injuries while also ensuring Keith couldn't escape his grasp.

 

“Listen, we have sparring tomorrow morning. I can’t get better at kicking your butt unless your butt is there for me to kick,” Lance lectured, ignoring Keith’s angry noises. “Your ribs are probably broken or something. Don’t be stupid. Hop into a healing pod for an hour, you’ll be good to go on being annoying in no time.”

 

“Lance, I’m _fine,_ ” Keith insisted, but he’d also stopped struggling, so Lance grinned over his shoulder at him.

 

“Uh huh. Sure. Maybe you _shouldn’t_ go into the healing pod then. I would _love_ to be able to actually throw you down for once. Actually, yeah, let’s forgot about the healing, lemme have my totally deserved and not at all unfair victory, _and then_ you can fix your broken ribs.”

 

Keith glared at him, but it lacked any real heat. As much as he and Keith annoyed the hell out of each other, they hadn’t an actual throw-down in months. It was a symptom of living and fighting in close proximity. Of being part of one giant robot on a regular basis. And Keith was actually kind of cool when he wasn’t being a jackass. Not that Lance would say that out loud.

 

“Fine. Point made.” Keith _still_ didn’t tug his wrist out of Lance’s grip, which Lance took to mean that Keith didn’t mind being dragged along, so Lance didn’t let go.

 

And if he waited for the full hour that it took for Keith’s ribs and various other bruising to heal, no one was around to see it or comment on it.

 

Keith didn’t say anything when he stumbled out, Lance helping him to find his footing. The other boy just smiled … and then swept Lance’s legs out from under him.

 

“Every time, Lance. I keep trying to get you to see it —”

 

“ _It’s not sparring time yet, you jackass!_ ”

 

“It’s _always_ sparring time,” Keith said easily. “You should know that by now.”

 

Lance lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling, and reminded himself that he was grateful that Keith wasn’t dead. Then he managed to clip Keith’s ankle with his toes, sending him crashing into an empty pod, and hearing Keith’s swearing made him extra glad that Keith wasn’t dead. He couldn’t die until Lance had managed to win a sparring match at least once, so he could crow about it forever.

 

When Keith offered him a hand up, and yanked him to his feet while complaining about a whole new set of bruises on his freshly healed skin, sounding almost _proud_ of Lance’s dirty tactic, Lance took a moment to bask in the absurd comfort he derived from an irritated, yet oddly pleased Keith.

 

Now he had officially completely forgotten about his panic over losing his Lion.

 

******

“Keith! _KEITH!”_ Lance screeched.

 

Keith was just floating out there, in space, and his helmet was _cracked_ _;_  the rest of them were trapped in this stupid prison ship, their Galra captors laughing like this was a _joke._ They’d dragged the Voltron captives up to the bridge, shown them the final blow that had sent Keith flying from his Lion …

“Oh god,” Shiro exhaled, his face bone pale.

 

The Red Lion had gone dark, recovering from the massive blast it had taken when Keith had ( _stupidly, why is he so stupid_ ) tried to face the ship head on, on his own, while the rest of the Paladins (and their Lions) were locked up, unable to do anything _but watch Keith suffocate and freeze to death in space._

“The Castle is still seventy ticks away …” Pidge said hollowly, apparently uncaring of their captors overhearing that help was on the way. But too far. Too far to save Keith.

 

Lance was _furious_ again, the way that only Keith could make him feel, because it was like this idiot had a _death wish._  Shiro talked about teaching him patience and whatever, but clearly, it wasn’t taking. And Lance wasn’t crying, he wasn’t, these were just … This prison ship was dry and cold, and his eyes needed the extra moisture and _holy crap, was that Blue?!_

“Lance, your Lion!” Shiro’s hoarse voice shouted.

 

“ _Guards, why is the Blue Lion — how did it —”_  The Warden was stuttering, barking out orders, stunned that his impenetrable prison had been, well, penetrated by a Lion that was meant to be damaged _and_ contained.

 

But there was Blue, snatching Keith up in its mouth, and about twenty seconds later, the Castle was upon them, blasting the prison and providing them with the means to escape. The battle was a bit of a blur to Lance, who just kept seeing Keith’s seemingly lifeless body thrown from his Lion, and then that helmet, cracking … So he was pretty surprised to see he had somehow grabbed a weapon off a nearby Galra, shot not only the guard nearest to him, but also the Warden, several times, probably at least three times more than he needed to be shot …

 

And he really didn’t care. Normally death sort of … twisted his insides a bit. Even when it was people who clearly wanted him dead. This particular Galra? He felt _nothing_ other than satisfaction and relief.

 

Of course, then the adrenaline cut out, exhaustion set in, and his mind replayed the sight of Blue going after Keith; once again, he was faced with the reality that Blue might prefer another Paladin to him. The Red Lion was back on the Castle, and Allura informed them that Blue had dropped off Keith, who was currently in a healing pod and would apparently be out in just a few short hours. Lance hitched a ride with Pidge, and quickly realized that it was a mistake to do so.

 

“Lance?” He hadn’t allowed himself to be in a room alone with Pidge for at least a couple of weeks. And now he remembered why. “Lance, I know what you’re thinking. And you’re wrong.”

 

“Am I?” Lance’s voice was hoarse. He was so tired. And relieved. But mostly tired. “Maybe it’s better this way.”

 

“Lance, think about this!” Pidge was sounding incredibly frustrated, and Lance was sort of offended by this because, _hello,_ it was _Lance_ who was on the verge of losing his position in Voltron ….

 

“A Lion responds to the most urgent needs of its Paladin — when things are _desperate,_ when the Paladin is in _absolute danger,_ or _unbearable pain,_ it seeks out its Paladin, and saves them —”

 

“Right, so Keith has a deeper connection to my Lion than I do, great, thanks, _I’ve figured that much out_.”

 

Pidge took her hands off her controls to throw them in the air. “Your Lion has saved your butt more than once, from across a whole galaxy that time with the lobster aliens, so _shut up._ Lance, _think about what you were feeling before Blue took off._ This time, _and_ last time.”

 

“Guys? Are you, uh, coming in any time soon?” Hunk’s voice called through the comms. “Because we’re all kinda waiting for you two.”

 

“Not right now, Hunk!” Pidge snapped, even as she guided the Lion into the Castle.

 

Lance had already forgotten what Pidge had asked because there was Blue. Lance burst into action, bolting away from the Green Paladin as he ran towards the exit. He ignored Pidge as she called after him.

 

He fell out of the Green Lion, racing up to the Blue Lion that all but scooped him up as he approached. Lance immediately felt warm — comforted. And it sucked.

 

“You’re not going to leave me, buddy, right? I get that I’m not as good a fighter as Keith, or as smart as Pidge and Hunk. Or the leader. But you and me, we were the first to find each other.” He was suddenly reminded that it was _Keith_ who had sensed the Blue Lion, who had figured out roughly where to look, narrowed down with Hunk’s help … “But if you are going to leave me, find some way to say it directly? Straightforward is best, dude, I’m really not good at picking up on subtle hints and …”

 

The warmth grew, and Lance felt a soft, but strong presence encroaching on his fears, as if from the outside, wrapping them up in a blanket. He felt held and safe. For a brief moment, he thought his mom was there, and then he was _crying._ But no one was present to see, so he gave himself permission. He would just go a little extra on the face cream tonight to ease up on the puffiness.

 

Except that he fell asleep, and he was woken up by a hand shaking his shoulder, a voice whispering, “Lance? Lance, wake up.”

 

Lance opened his eyes, feeling heavy and exhausted despite the fact he’d clearly been conked out for some time. When his vision focused, he found himself looking directly into Keith’s face. The grey eyes were a little too close, but Lance didn’t jump up and flail — he just sort of blinked a bit, staring in confusion.

 

“What …” he croaked out.

 

“You fell asleep in your Lion, idiot,” Keith said, and the softness in his voice was weird. “We have perfectly comfortable beds. What are you doing?”

 

Lance took a moment to let his thoughts fully wake up. Then he remembered … But it didn’t matter. Blue had made it very clear that Lance was the one and only Blue Paladin it wanted. The words weren’t necessary — the Lion had essentially _cradled him to sleep while shoving good vibes into his brain._ He could have sworn there was also a hint of _you’re so dumb, as if I could do better,_ though again, not with words. A touch of affectionate frustration. Lance was _very_ familiar with being on the receiving end of that feeling, thanks to Pidge.

 

And speaking of Pidge, Lance should apologize for being such an ass to her.

 

“Just bonding with Blue,” Lance said in answer to Keith’s question. His voice was low and raspy, and he cleared his throat and started stretching, Keith all but jumping out of his way, which was, again, _weird._ Keith was acting strangely, and Lance stared up at him as he uncurled himself from Blue’s pilot chair. “What’s the deal, dude? Do you need more time in the healing pod? You seem off.”

 

“No, I’m fine. But Pidge said she hadn’t seen you since you disappeared into your Lion, and …” Keith seemed to be struggling to find words, which Lance noticed was a thing for him sometimes — regular human interaction took practice, and not everyone could be as naturally _awesome_ at it as Lance.

 

“Well, Blue didn’t eat me. It’s all good,” Lance said, and he actually believed it now. Sort of. Mostly. At least he knew that Blue wanted him around, even if he wasn't the strongest Paladin or the most useful one. “Did you need me for something?”

 

“What? No. I just didn’t want you to spend your whole night here, because I know that would mean listening to an _entire day’s worth_ of complaining about your missed skin regimen —”

 

“Listen, this _glow_ is _natural,_ but it does require upkeep to make sure it _stays natural,_ ” Lance said hotly. “If I can’t glow, I can’t work the ladies.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “Wonderful, so glad I came to check on you. Can we get out of here, now? It’s late, and Shiro wants us to have group training tomorrow morning —”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Lance stood up, pushing Keith a little to get him going. “You first, Red.”

 

Keith moved without protest though he did scowl some more. Lance was immune to that by this point. He split from Keith once they left the hanger so he could hunt down Pidge. And also get some answers.

 

“So!” Lance announced as he walked into Pidge’s workroom, taking extreme delight in her shriek of surprise, followed up by her glare of death. “I was a jerk, and I would like to formally apologize to you. Because I am both magnanimous and humble, and I acknowledge my mistakes.”

 

“Okay, oh humble one,” Pidge said. “The apology, please.”

 

“I am so very sorry. I seek to make amends!” Lance dropped into a chair and slid in closer to Pidge. “And my way to make those amends is to ask you to tell me why Blue is making the moves on Keith.”

 

Pidge stared at him, a touch incredulous. “You _really_ haven’t figured it out?”

 

“Pidge. I am very intelligent, but I am not a genius,” Lance said patiently. “Spell it out for me.”

 

“Well, you just sort of answered your own question,” Pidge said, snorting. “Your Lion is making the moves on Keith — and by ‘moves’ I mean responding to your _abject terror_ whenever Keith is in danger.”

 

That made _no sense._ “Pidge, you’re normally the voice of reason and technobabble, but you are doing neither of those things right now.”

 

“Lance,” Pidge said in a very exaggeratedly slow voice. “Your Lion is responding to your feelings for Keith. As in, _you feel so strongly for Keith that your Lion acts on your behalf and saves him._ ”

 

Lance did not appreciate being spoken to like he was five years old, and Pidge was _still_ not — wait. “Wait, wait, you’re saying that … that my Lion is saving Keith because _I_ want to save Keith?”

 

 _“Yes!”_ Pidge’s hands were up in the air. “Geez.”

 

“I want to save Keith so badly that …” Lance went back to each of those moments when Keith was about to … Suddenly, his brain was rerouting him elsewhere — to Keith sparring with him in the training room, laughing and poking at him without being cruel. To Keith making a face whenever it was mystery meatloaf night, surreptitiously sliding portions of his food to Hunk. To Keith, his face less than two inches from Lance’s when he woke up earlier in the Blue Lion, those grey eyes …

 

Lance fell off his chair.

 

Pidge stared down at him, unimpressed. “Oh, I see, _now_ you get it.”

 

_“Holy crap, Pidge, I’m in love with a mullet! What do I do?!”_

 

Pidge raised her eyebrows. “Um, you tell him and then go make out somewhere far away from the rest of us?”

 

Lance stared at her in horror. “ _Are you insane?_ Pidge, _Pidge._ The women, Pidge, the women —”

 

“Bisexuality is a thing, Lance,” Pidge said, her _talking to a toddler_ tone back, though she softened her words by way of a supportive hand briefly squeezing one of his shoulders.

 

“Okay, _fine,_ yeah, but that’s not … If it had to be a guy, _why Keith?”_

 

“I don’t know, Lance, why Keith?” Pidge asked with a smile. “He’s emo, and broody, and he’s got a temper, and he doesn’t know how to take orders if _he_ thinks he’s in the right —”

 

“Right? Right! He’s moody, and when he laughs, it’s actually the worst, because he actually looks human for a bit. And he doesn’t know when to quit, he would work himself to death if we didn’t force him to sit and eat and sleep, and he’s annoyingly good in a fight, but that doesn’t mean he should throw himself headfirst into every freaking conflict, and don’t even get me started on the fact that …” Lance felt himself deflating. Felt himself settle into the realization even as his heart dropped. “He has pretty eyes. It’s _awesome_ to watch him fight, even when he’s kicking my ass. He cares without saying the words — just _does_ stuff for you, and never asks for a 'thank you' or anything. He’s so damn heroic all the time, even when he’s being too reckless with his life … And I don’t hate the mullet as much as I should.”

 

“Oh Lance,” Pidge murmured, reaching out to pat him on the head. “You poor, sad soul. You’ve got it _so bad._ ”

 

Lance whined low in his throat, dropping his head down to let Pidge continue stroking his hair. “Pidge. Don’t say anything to anyone, please.”

 

“Of course not. But you’ve gotta try and talk to Keith about —”

 

“No. Never.” Lance jerked his head up, Pidge nearly poking him in the eye as he did so. “Nope. We’re good. I know what’s going on. It’s fine.” He stood up suddenly, yawning. “It’s late, so, you know, bed now — early training session tomorrow, bye Pidge!”

 

Lance ran off, knowing his face was flushing a dark pink, and he was absolutely going to skip his skincare regimen tonight because what he really needed was to bury himself face first in his bed, his headphones on, music turned up to eleven, so he could drown out the now inescapable thoughts about Keith and every single damn thing that Lance loved about the annoying jackass.

 

******

 

“Lance, when you get back here, _I’m going to kill you_. _”_ Keith’s hoarse voice gave out at the end, and the sound of loud, obnoxious hacking filled Lance’s helmet.

 

“Hey, this sounds familiar,” Lance said with an easy grin. “Except when I said it, I wasn’t coughing up a lung and running a fever hot enough to fry eggs on my forehead.”

 

“Get your butt back here, Lance,” Shiro ordered, his own voice sounding highly congested. “We can —”

 

“Do what?” Lance said, flying towards the blockade of Galra ships. “Sit there with no one able to pilot their Lions while the Galra blow us to bits? Focus on getting power back on so we can wormhole out of here. I’ll hold them off until then.”

 

“This is so stupid,” Keith said, raspy but somehow still pretty damn loud. “Lance, you’re going to get yourself _killed_ —”

 

“Yeah, how does it feel being on the other end of it, pal?” Lance said smugly. “Not so fun, is it? And yeah, maybe they blast me good, but you guys will have the Castle up and running by then, and I’ll vamoose on out. Trust me, I’m too pretty to die.”

 

Hunk wasn’t saying anything because he literally had no voice, and Pidge was running a fever too high to be safe — so what little power the Castle had, after the Galra disrupted it with a weird magic pulse thing, was being used to keep a healing pod running for Pidge.

 

Lance bottled up his worry for her, his panic about being out here, alone, with only a few defensive drones for help, while he faced a relatively small (but still too big, too much for one Paladin) force of Galra that had gotten _lucky_ to catch them at the _worst_ time ever.

 

Keith was the most healthy of all of them, but the Altean version of Chicken Pox had downed everybody else, including Allura and Coran, who were functioning only because they had taken the last stimulant packs available in the medical bays.

 

Shiro could barely stand and his limbs were trembling constantly, last Lance had seen, and Keith was able to move around, but he got dizzy incredibly quickly, experiencing what it was like to be Hunk in a moving vehicle simply by attempting to walk slightly faster than normal. Hunk was voiceless, deaf in one ear, and parts of his body kept going numb with no rhyme or reason to them. Basically, it was a sorry state that Allura had sworn would last no more than a week — but that was a week they didn’t have now, unless Lance could keep the Galra off them long enough for Coran and Allura to work their own brand of magic.

 

Lance was immune for one reason only — his mother, a doctor, had given him several vaccines before he went to the Garrison, and a few of them were for long-gone illnesses; she had been worried about his exposure to things unknown … And one those vaccines had saved him the agonies that the others were facing, at least that’s what Coran said the blood analysis had shown. So all Lance had to deal with was a crappy cold for a day, and now he was right as rain. And the only one able to fight.

 

“Lance, please,” Shiro started to say, but that was at the same time the Galra fighters started launching, and Lance was too busy to listen.

 

He froze the first couple that came at him, and then he and Blue were a twirling, whirling, massive flying death machine; the Galra couldn’t pin Lance down, and he wouldn’t let them — not when his friends (family, the only family he had right now even if they didn't see him the same way) were depending on him.

 

It was brutal, it was exhausting, and when they tried to bait him — when a few fighters split off to attack the defenseless Castle — of course Lance was going to follow them.

 

And so, of course, he was going to get flanked, blasted hard enough that he saw stars, and not the ones out on his viewscreen. The Blue Lion roared around him, _in him,_ and Lance realized, as a missile came directly at him and he wasn’t fast enough — _they_ weren’t fast enough — that this was going to hurt.

 

The explosion spun him and Blue head over heels, over and over, and the one good thing that came of it was he managed to direct Blue to one of two large Galra ships. Having already done a serious number on this one, it exploded when Blue hit it dead on — and Lance was definitely concussed at this point, but he was  _staying awake, damn it._

“Lance! Lance!”

 

Two hoarse voices in his ear, a croaking sound that may have been Hunk attempting to talk. He used it all to ground himself, to grit his teeth and let Blue help him fire upon the ships that were attacking the Castle. They were frozen, and then shattered by a mean whip of Blue’s tail.

 

“Atta girl!” Lance said, coughing and wincing. His head hurt badly, too badly to think clearly, to see clearly.

 

“Lance, the mounted blaster on the other ship!” Shiro yelled, the words sounding like they were torn out of him.

 

Blue was turning for him at this point, Lance’s vision was swimming — he saw what Shiro was screaming about just in time to take it face first. That explosion was so powerful that Lance blacked out for a second. Good thing, because he was pretty sure he had been making some horribly embarrassing noises from the pain of it.

 

“ _No, no — Lance, LANCE!_ ”

 

Keith shouldn’t be screeching like that. He was going to do serious damage to his throat. Lance opened his mouth to tell him to shut up, but his mouth didn’t seem to want to listen. He could sort of see out towards space — to the fighters that were leaving the Castle alone in favour of concentrating their fire on him to finish him off.

 

Maybe by the time they’d blasted him to pieces, Allura and Coran would have the Castle working again. Stupid Galra. Wasting their time on him. When he was the least important member of Team Voltron. When they could easily replace him. Blue would be sad for a bit, but it would all work out in the end, maybe even for the better.

 

“ _God, Lance, how could you even think that we would — we’re going to have a long talk when you — Keith! Keith, look!”_

 

“ _Red? RED, SAVE HIM, NOW!”_

Lance’s vision was blurry, but he could see crimson — hear a roar in his head that didn’t sound like Blue.

 

And then he was gone, feeling like he was slipping into a warm bath, dark and cozy and safe.

 

******

 

Lance fell out of the healing pod, directly into Shiro’s arms. He was disoriented only for a few seconds, and then everything came roaring back. He blinked open his eyes, squinting in the bright lights.

 

Shiro almost immediately picked him up into a bridal carry and walked him over to a nice, soft cot.

 

“You doing okay?” Shiro lay Lance down, slow and careful, and all too soon Lance was surrounded by not only the Black Paladin, but a Yellow Paladin, and a Green Paladin, and there was Allura smiling brilliantly at him, and Coran wiping away a tear, wailing into a handkerchief.

 

“Yeah? I mean, I’m not dead, so anything was going to feel great in comparison,” Lance answered, proud of himself for not stuttering or slurring. He was woozy and sleepy, but otherwise felt fine.

 

He also felt like he was about to be subject to a lecture. And he was right, but he was also wrong, because it definitely wasn’t the kind of lecture he was expecting to get.

 

“Great, so now I’m going to tell you something, and you’re going to believe me when I say it,” Shiro said firmly, his tone brooking no argument.

 

He waited. Lance realized Shiro wanted confirmation that he had been understood, and so he nodded somewhat shakily.

 

“You are a valuable member of this team. There is _no one_ else to pilot the Blue Lion, and even if there were, _we wouldn’t want them._ Because you, Lance, are integral. Your contributions matter because they come from _you._ No one else grounds us like you do. Keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously and thereby keeping us _sane_. Reminds us of the home we’re fighting to save.”

 

Lance’s eyes were getting wider and wider as Shiro spoke with a steady and unwavering voice. This was a little too much for him right out of the healing pod. He had _no idea_ how long he’d been out for. He only knew that it must’ve been at least five or six days, because all of them seemed to have recovered from their illnesses, and that, somehow, he had spilled his innermost thoughts to them, maybe before he had passed out, convinced he was going to die — which he kind of wanted to do now because this was humiliating.

 

“You’re an excellent fighter, a fantastic marksman, and you have heart. You’re quick on your feet, and you always have our backs.” Shiro leaned in, forcing Lance to look him in the eyes. “And the most important thing is that _you are family._ ”

 

Lance swallowed hard, his eyes filling with tears. He was too tired to make a joke. He couldn’t think of a light-hearted or boastful comment to make — and he didn’t want to, because Shiro was dead serious. Takashi Shirogane, Lance’s _idol,_ was saying these things to him and _meaning them._

When Lance leaned back, looking around Shiro to Hunk, Pidge, Allura, and Coran, he saw similar expressions of fierce protectiveness staring right back at him. Hunk was sort of crying too, which made Lance feel instantly better about his own blurry, watery vision.

 

“Are we good now? Do you understand that you are not _unimportant_ or _replaceable_?” Shiro asked, his gaze intense.

 

Lance swallowed again, nodding. And then he wrapped his arms around Shiro, taking a risk that was instantly rewarded by a return embrace. Shiro pulled away after a few seconds; he was swiftly shoved aside by Hunk swooping in to squeeze the newly restored life out of Lance.

 

“Dude, _dude._ You are so dumb. How are you so dumb? Because you’re obviously smart, right? And confident and cool, and how could you think you’re not important to us? What’s wrong with you?” Hunk was blubbering; it was sweet, and making Lance feel as dumb as Hunk was saying, but in a good way? Yes, in a good way. A great way, even.

 

“Okay, big guy, I got it,” Lance said, feeling some of the tiredness fall away. He grinned up at Pidge, Allura, and Coran. “You guys getting in on this too, or …”

 

Coran and Pidge moved quickly, hugging him around Hunk as best they could, and Allura stepped in close enough to give Lance a kiss on the temple. “Next time, try not to prove your own self worth by nearly dying. You may not know this, but the Blue Lion was knocked around enough to give your brain a terrifying amount of damage —”

 

Pidge jabbed at him with her sharp fingers. “You were practically _brain dead on arrival_ is what she’s trying to say. You idiot.”

 

Coran ran his hand through Lance’s hair. “Thankfully you’re also blessed with a brain that bounces back, so you didn’t have to spend nearly as long in the pod as we thought.”

 

This would be when Hunk disentangled himself from Lance, looking over Lance’s shoulder to say, “Hey, Keith. It’s your turn, buddy.”

 

Lance hadn’t forgotten about Keith, except Shiro blindsiding him had _totally made him forget about Keith._ And about the fact that the _Red Lion had saved him._ He hadn’t imagined that right? No, no, he hadn’t, because he could still hear Keith’s wrecked voice screaming that Red _save him._

Lance shifted around on the cot just as Keith made the short walk from where he’d been leaning against a healing pod to Lance’s side.

 

Pidge grabbed Hunk’s arm. “We’re going now. If you guys don’t discuss your feelings, _we will discuss them for you._ ”

 

“Yeah, what she said … except, wait, what?” Hunk was confused, and Pidge was saying she would explain it to him as she dragged him out.

 

Allura, Shiro, and Coran all backed away with grins on their faces, Coran whistling a tune that sounded distinctly like one of the cheesy 80s ballads Lance had on his phone from Earth, and _how did Coran know about that?!_

But then they were gone, and it was just him and Keith.

 

Keith stood awkwardly next to the cot, hands shoved in his coat pockets, his eyes on Lance’s hands, refusing to meet his gaze.

 

“So …” Lance started. “I think the feelings that Pidge mentioned? Probably have something to do with our Lions saving each other’s butts.”

 

Keith nodded. “She, um, explained that to me while you were out. And when I say explained, I mean she lectured me and made me feel like a jackass.”

 

“Oh, that’s great — nice to know she does it to people other than me.” Lance smiled at Keith, and Keith looked away again. But soon after he was squaring his shoulders and looking back at Lance, his eyes steely.

 

“I actually didn’t know until she said it. But I will say that it didn’t surprise me once she did.”

 

“Huh, well, it _blew my mind,_ ” Lance said with a wide expansive gesture of his hands. “I had a mini-breakdown and everything and — you _weren’t_ surprised?”

 

“No,” Keith said, and he sucked in a deep breath, taking the extra two small steps that he needed to get to the cot and sit down next to Lance. It was instantly _way too close,_ but Lance didn’t say anything. Or lean away. “I had already been dealing with the fact that I found you annoyingly attractive. So figuring out that it was more than that? Wasn’t too much of a stretch.”

 

Lance took this in with a slow, giddy grin forming on his face. “Annoyingly attractive? As in, it annoys you that you couldn’t resist my charms? That you fell for my devilish good looks?”

 

“Well, it was more the way you looked after we sparred — the sweaty, messy, kinda smelly you.” Keith smirked. “The 'too tired to speak except in grunts' you.”

 

Lance poked at him. “You think I’m _sexy._ ”

 

Keith tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. “You think I’m pretty.”

 

Lance’s eyes went huge again. “Um, when did I — oh god, did everyone else —”

 

“Pidge mentioned it,” Keith said serenely. “And attractiveness is not why your Lion saved me, or why mine saved you.”

 

Silence from both of them after this. Lance ventured with a hand — he settled it near Keith’s own hand, the one that was holding him up next to Lance.

 

Keith slid that hand over, covering Lance’s fingers, and then gripping them tightly.

 

“Right.” Lance had no idea what he was going to say or do. He was desperately trying to come up with something meaningful, something cool and suave, but sincere —

 

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Keith said matter-of-factly.

 

“Wait, _what?_ No, why do you _always have to be first?_ First to blow things up, first one out of the gate to shoot at Galra, first —”

 

Keith swooped in, catching Lance mid-rant, and Lance took one second to be irritated beyond belief. Then, in the next second, he was lifting up both hands to Keith’s hair, tangling in the black locks, pressing into Keith and feeling one of Keith’s hands coming up to cradle the back of his head gently.

 

The kiss itself was insistent, clumsy, and neither of them was getting the right angle on it until Keith shifted a little bit closer, and Lance cocked his head in the opposite direction. Suddenly, it was better, so much better, and Lance was dropping his hands down to the back of Keith’s red jacket, bunching the material as he hauled Keith in even closer.

 

Their teeth clicked uncomfortably, but Lance just laughed and readjusted. Keith snorted after another messy kiss, and then they were both laughing; it was ridiculous, but also one of the best awkward things to ever happen to Lance. Ever.

 

“We’re going to be unbeatable,” Keith said suddenly, almost breathing the words against Lance’s mouth. “We’re sort of connected to _two Lions._ That’s … I don’t know if that’s ever been done before, but we’re going to be _so kick-ass_ in battle.”

 

“Dude,” Lance said. “Yes. But also, can we not discuss that after I’ve almost had my brains made into purée?”

 

Keith pulled away then, just far enough for Lance to feel a little cooler, and also, a little irked at the lack of making out.

 

“Shiro pretty much covered everything that needed to be said about that, but I’m going to say this much — if you _ever_ try and pull some pointless self-sacrificing crap again? Because somehow you think that you’re the only one who can because _you’re not important?_ I will beat you to it. Because if you think I would ever let you die for me without taking a shot for you first, _you are dead wrong._ ”

 

“Wow, Keith, that was a little intense for our first day as boyfriends,” Lance said. The huge grin on his face belied his words, as did the arms sneaking around Keith’s waist. “But by all means, tell me how important and awesome I am. I’m gorgeous enough to die for? More on that, please.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes skyward. “And we’re back. Great. You are so lucky that I actually like your obnoxious personality. Good looks alone would not be enough for me to put up with you.”

 

Lance fluttered his eyelashes. “Tell me more, Red.”

 

Keith shook his head. “No. You need to sleep in an actual bed, and you need to eat something —”

 

“ _Or_ we could make out until whatever meal — I have no idea what time it is — and then head over to eat together. And make Pidge and Hunk gag into their food by being super sweet and like, feeding each other. Pidge deserves it for making us both feel like really dumb jerks.”

 

Keith considered this for a moment. And then he leaned in again, pressed his lips to Lance’s with a small smile. One that disappeared as Lance closed his eyes and pulled him further in, until they were both reclined on the cot.

 

Somewhere in the back of both their minds, echoing, was the reverberating hum of two Lions, Red and Blue, fully satisfied that their charges were safe and content.

 

******

 

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to write all the fic about these two. All the time now. Which is bad, because I have school and work and stuff. *sigh*
> 
> Thank you to anyone that reads this explosion of feels that I just had to work out. This was so very self-indulgent. Please feel free to point out any mistakes, or fangirl along with me, here or on [Tumblr](http://thisgirlhastales.tumblr.com/) :)


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